Credit cards or "plastic money" have become increasingly popular in the not-too-distant past. Most consumers now have at their disposal a significant number of credit cards, allowing them to make purchases of goods and services at any of a number of retail outlets or facilities. Normally, such persons carry their credit cards in a separate portion of their wallet and, to satisfy a charge, remove the appropriate card from their wallet and deliver the same to a sales clerk so that the charge may be entered on the proper account. It is not uncommon for the customer then to leave the sales establishment without recovering his card and returning it to his wallet. The loss of the card is generally not detected until its use is again required.
Applicant is unaware of any wallet or credit card carrier which includes means for signalling the absence of a credit card. There are, however, known security devices incorporated with wallets, purses, and the like, to prevent the same from being stolen. Applicant is aware of other devices for securing specific articles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,359, presents a structure wherein the state of balance of a Wheatstone bridge is used to determine when an article has been tampered with. In similar fashion, U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,079, provides a structure wherein a mercury switch is used to determine or sense a change of attitude or position and to accordingly sound an alarm comprising an audio oscillator. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,140, an alarm circuit is maintained within a purse such that any sudden jerking motion of the purse actuates the alarm circuit. In similar fashion, U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,126, a short circuit provided through the handle or closure device of the purse acts to prevent theft by either cutting of the purse handle or unauthorized opening of the closure device. U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,358, teaches the utilization of a metallic card in books or the like, such card actuating an alarm when passed by a detection area. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,249, teaches a wallet having an electronic circuit which emits an audible alarm when the wallet is wrongfully removed from the owner's purse or pocket.
While all of the foregoing prior art deals with security devices of sorts, none of this known art teaches a means for determining the absence of a credit card from a preordained receptacle. Indeed, there appears to be a void in the art of any structure adapted for alarming an owner as to the absence of such a card.